


They Bathe by Night

by ofunaq



Category: That Inevitable Victorian Thing - E. K. Johnson
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 13:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofunaq/pseuds/ofunaq





	They Bathe by Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [evewithanapple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evewithanapple/gifts).



The sound of the kettle boiling woke Helena from her reverie. It still felt like a fairy tale, a story from someone else’s book. And yet here she was, sat at the kitchen table of a small terraced house in Cambridge, England, while her darling Margaret, heir to the Empire, made tea for her and August.

The summer by Lake Muskoka had passed in a whirlwind of activity: the days spent making plans for their future together, and the nights, when August returned to the Callaghan family cottage to sleep, Helena and Margaret spent revelling in discovering each other’s bodies, finding the most delightfully sensitive spots for eliciting gasps and sighs. But that timeless, self-contained bubble could not last forever, and they needed a stepping stone to the next stage of their journey together. Ultimately, it was August’s father’s suggestion that broke up their logjam of ideas: university. What could be more natural than for the future Queen to further her already impressive knowledge by studying for a degree at Cambridge? Margaret’s godfather, known to most as the Archbishop of Canterbury, led the very hurried negotiations and, after a number of harrowing screen interviews with eminent dons, it was agreed that places could be found for all three of them: Helena and Margaret would read Economics, and August would study Engineering when the University year began in October.

Tradition dictated that the princess should reside at the stately Madingley Hall, 4 miles west of town and well protected by the Windsor Guard. But after much discussion, it was agreed that the three of them could instead share a small house on the south side of town, with a garden that backed onto the river. The engagement between the Crown Princess Victoria-Margaret and August Callaghan having been formally announced, it was put about that Helena would share the house with them in the role of chaperone cum Lady-in-Waiting. With three bedrooms, a front sitting room, a back dining room and a small kitchen, they had everything they needed: a space all their own.

o===<

Margaret brought in the steaming cups of tea. The most ordinary of things still gave her such great delight: making her own food, cycling across town to lectures, undressing Helena… well now, that was never ordinary, but it felt like the truest, most natural thing she had ever done. And only with Helena did she truly feel herself. Helena, who had loved her as Margaret Sandwich. Helena, who had fallen in love with her as Lizzie in the –gnet chat. Helena, who still saw her as Margaret first, and princess and future Queen almost as an afterthought.

“Drink up, or we’ll be late,” Margaret said. The University English folk dance society had organised a ceilidh that evening, and Margaret had missed dancing with Helena and August. She’d also heard that the dances would all be called as Larks and Ravens, instead of Gents and Ladies, and she was looking forward to trying the traditional gents’ role in some of the dances.

o===<

August, Helena and Margaret walked arm in arm to the dance. They could already hear the band warming up, and a few enthusiastic couples were dancing a polka around the room.

“Shall we dance?” August offered Margaret his hand. In a few moments, they too were dancing to the music. August really was an excellent dancer, Margaret reflected, and his firm ballroom hold felt secure and confident. She could see what Helena saw in him—she just didn’t _feel_ it. Would this endless charade ever work, when, ultimately, she had to surrender her body to the demands of Empire? She thought back to becoming Margaret Sandwich. If she could reinvent herself as an unknown, a person who never was, how hard could it be to picture herself as Helena, and live out Helena’s own desires on her behalf? She thought back to Helena, diving into the cold water of Lake Muskoka, Helena gasping as Margaret licked that most sensitive spot on her neck, felt herself become Helena as their bodies fused together. And in the imagining, she felt the spark of Helena’s desire for August, the allure of his firm body, her longing to become one with him too. It was enough, for now. She would keep feeding the spark, for as long as it took, until one day its flame would keep alive the hopes and dreams of Empire for another generation.

o===<

The dances all became a blur. Helena remembered a most delightful Strip the Willow, in which she kept spinning for too long with Margaret, and came out onto the other side of the dance from the one she’d expected, and being swung back in for another dizzy spin, orbiting each other like heavenly bodies, drawn to each other by a kind of natural physical attraction.

At some point they lost August. With a robotics assignment due shortly, he’d warned them he might leave early for a chance to run his program in the lab while it was quiet.

o===<

The last waltz was over. Helena could have danced all night, and still have begged for more. Laughing, she stepped out into the cool night air with Margaret. The moon and stars were out, giving the night a magical quality. Hand in hand, they walked homewards along the deserted riverside path. A tree trunk curved out over the river, the roots making a natural swimming spot.

“Did you know, they call this bit Paradise?” said Margaret.

“Truthfully?” asked Helena.

“Yes, really. It’s the Paradise Nature Reserve. I saw the sign a few days ago. A tiny garden of Eden, practically in the middle of Cambridge.”

“That can’t be right,” teased Helena. “I don’t see an apple tree. And, besides, we’re wearing far too many clothes!”

“Is that so?” Before Helena quite realised what was happening, Margaret slipped off her dress and shoes, and everything else, and eased her naked body into the water. Not to be outdone, but shivering with nervous excitement, Helena followed her.

The water was surprisingly cold, surprisingly deep, and almost slimy on her skin. Long, oily reeds tugged at Helena’s ankles. This was not at all like the lakes in Canada. The smell of the water was organic, earthy, as if the river itself was alive. It was amazing, but also slightly terrifying.

An eerie call rent the air, and Helena’s heart froze within her, as she reached out to clutch at Margaret. “What was that?”

“It’s just a tawny owl.” Margaret shivered.

“You’re freezing. Let’s get you home to bed.”

o===<

As they sipped their cocoa together, Margaret huddled closer. Helena idly ran her warmed fingers across Margaret’s still cold skin, eliciting a gasping shiver. And before very long, all thoughts of cocoa were forgotten.


End file.
